Kursk Root Icon Procession 9-25-2009

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words...

Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral of New York of the ROCOR has taken the Kursk Root Icon to Russia. Look at the size of the crowd for the procession! There are THOUSANDS present! There are more people here than there are in most American Orthodox archdioceses… reflect on that and understand why all those who bloviate concerning “American Orthodoxy” are all wet.

This humbles one… these people had many options… watch TV, listen to the radio, visit friends, go to work, read, go to the shopping mall, or potter at the dacha… instead, they are HERE. Make no more sarcastic and condescending comments about the Church in Russia until you can muster a crowd of THIS size. The photos and above information is from Voices of Russia website.

WOW!!! I have not seen the ROCOR list or talk about the amount of Christians that turned out to venerate this Holy Orthodox Icon in.

In Kursk, 387 pilgrims seek medical attention: people standing in line at the Cathedral, of which 28 were hospitalized. And this did not count the problems people had at the Korennaya Hermitage that is 30km North of Kursk City.
It was specially hard for those who suffer from chronic diseases. Orthodox Christians and have to wait in line for over 24 hours to visit the temple, to venerate the Kursk Root Icon.

Many ill persons will come out to seek prayers from this miracle icon as it has helped many Orthodox Christians since 1295 when it was found at Korennaya Hermitage Holy Spring. The Icon has to stay loner than just a few days as there are too many Orthodox Christians in the Kursk Region and many that want to venerate are not healthy enough to stay outside in the Russian fall weather. I would guess three weeks to a month in the Kursk Region alone and in August or early September.

I heard a orthodox choir director from Kursk tell me that she feared that she would not be able to venerate as too many people would attend the procession. As it turned out the Kursk Root Icon stayed a few extra days and she was able to pray in front of the icon. A lady from Svodoba Village said that she was so sad when the Kursk Root Icon left as she had waited all her life to venerate this icon and had heard so many stories about it over the years.